1 . In a story from Aesop’s Fables (伊索寓言), a thirsty crow (乌鸦) drops stones into a narrow bottle to raise the low level of water inside so he can take a drink.
Now scientists have experiments to back up that story. The experiments show that crows actually do understand how to make water displacement (排水量) work to their advantage. The results suggest that the birds are, at least in some cases, as smart as first-graders.
Researchers, led by Sarah Jelbert at the University of Cambridge, presented six crows with bottles, containing water. Inside the bottles, a piece of meat on a piece of wood was floating (漂浮), just out of reach of the crows. In front of the bottles, the researchers arranged several rubber erasers that would sink, and some plastic objects that would float. The crows found out that they could drop the erasers into the bottles in order to raise the water level and get their meat.
However, the birds were awkward in experiments in which they could choose to drop objects in either a wide bottle or a narrow one to get the meat, the researchers said. Dropping objects into a narrow bottle would lift the water level by a greater amount and put the treat within reach after just two drops; while it took around seven drops to raise the meat to the same level in the wide bottle. The crows obviously didn’t realize this, and most of them went for the wide bottle first.
Previous studies showed that chimps (大猩猩) and human children can solve similar tasks. In a 2011 study, chimps and kids found out that they could put water into a bottle to reach a peanut that was floating in a small amount of water at the bottom.
1. What does the text focus on?| A．The truth of Aesop’s fables. | B．Crows’ intelligence. |
| C．The development of crows. | D．Human-animal communication. |
| A．By breaking the bottle. | B．By dropping erasers. |
| C．By standing on the wood. | D．By removing the wood. |
| A．The bottle. | B．The objects. | C．The meat. | D．The water. |
| A．Crows are unable to tell different shapes. |
| B．Crows prefer narrow bottles. |
| C．Crows are good at counting numbers. |
| D．Crows are not clever all the time. |
| A．crows are as smart as them. |
| B．crows are smarter than them. |
| C．crows are less smart than them. |
| D．crows can not be compared with them. |
2 . In UK, Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras are everywhere. They help the police solve crimes (犯罪) and keep the streets safe. But that’s not all they do. They also catch people doing very stupid or smart things.
One of the videos is of a British woman Mary Bale. She clearly doesn’t like cats. In 2020 she was caught on CCTV throwing one into a dustbin. The video shows Mary walking down a quiet street. All of a sudden, she notices Lola the cat jump onto a fence (篱笆). Mary stops to pick up Lola and drops her into a large dustbin. Lola was saved fifteen hours later. And Mary was caught by police for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. She was fined ￡250 and was not allowed to own pets for five years.
Another video shows “Britain’s drunkest man”. And he’d obviously had a few too many glasses of beer. At about 2 a.m., he was kicked out for being too drunk. So, he decided to walk home. On the way, CCTV cameras filmed him falling down stairs and crossing the roads madly… A hotel waiter said, “It’s amazing he didn’t hurt himself badly.”
Sometimes they also record smart events. Once a British band The Get Out Clause didn’t have any money to make a music video. So, they came up with an unbelievable idea. They set up their instruments and played a song in front of eight CCTV cameras. And then, according to the English Freedom of Information Act, they asked for a copy of all the footages (镜头) , which they edited. The result is that a totally new music video was made, and it didn’t cost them a penny.
1. According to the passage, CCTV cameras are everywhere in ________.| A．China. | B．USA. | C．UN. | D．Britain. |
| A．She was put in prison for 15 hours. |
| B．She was not allowed to own pets forever. |
| C．She was asked to pay a sum of money. |
| D．She picked up Lora and put her into a dustbin. |
| A．help police solve crimes. | B．record some stupid scenes. |
| C．help drunk men find way home. | D．keep the street safer. |
| A．Because they believe it is cool and time-saving. |
| B．Because they want to get famous overnight. |
| C．Because they’re short of money. |
| D．Because they think it is unbelievable. |
| A．CCTV Cameras Watch Actions. | B．CCTV Cameras Are Everywhere. |
| C．CCTV cameras Are Wisely Used. | D．CCTV cameras Are Dangerous to Life. |
3 . This website is full of children’s story books. If you enjoy a child’s story or have kids of your own, then please browse (浏览) this site to find some great stories and order them.
The Cat in The Hat—Dr. Seuss
In this book, the Cat brings a cheerful form of disorder to a household of two young children one rainy day while their mother is out. The Cat performs all sorts of wacky tricks (奇怪的把戏) to make the children laugh. Then, he cleans up the house on his way out, disappearing seconds before the children’s mother arrives.
Tom and Pippo and The Washing Machine—Helen Oxenbury
Pippo, the toy monkey gets washed in the washing machine after playing in the mud with Tom. In the 1980s Helen Oxenbury created a series of books featuring Tom, a naughty young boy, and his beloved monkey, Pippo. Ms. Oxenbury said that Tom was very much like her son “when he was a little kid”.
Charlie and The Chocolate Factory—Roald Dahl
The book tells the story of a young boy, Charlie Bucket, who lives with his parents and his four grandparents. Charlie is a happy, bright and kind-hearted boy who loves his family despite their poor living conditions. His greatest love in life is chocolate, but he only receives one bar a year on his birthday.
The Famous Five—Enid Blyton
The Famous Five is Enid Blyton’s most popular series of children’s books. It was first published in 1942, and it has won great acclaim. The series has become the best-loved stories written for children.
1. What’s the purpose of the text?| A．To sell children’s storybooks on line. | B．To advertise for a book store. |
| C．To call on children to read stories. | D．To teach readers how to tell stories. |
| A．How the Cat puts the house in disorder. | B．How the Cat cares for two kids. |
| C．Why the Cat helps clean the house. | D．Why the Cat disappears finally. |
| A．Dr. Seuss. | B．Helen Oxenbury. | C．Road Dahl. | D．Enid Blyton. |
| A．he has four grandparents. | B．he is a kindhearted boy. |
| C．he doesn’t like chocolate. | D．he lives in a poor family. |
| A．Praise. | B．Shame. | C．Doubts. | D．Questions. |
4 . According to a recent report, about 15% of the people in the UK are members of gyms. But are they more likely to be fit?
A study found that gym members were 14 times more active than people who didn’t belong to any health club. Gym members did six hours more exercise a week, and this activity did make them fitter than non-gym members. They also spent less time sitting down every day than non-gym members. The results were the same for men and women.
The study included 405 people between the ages of 30 and 64, and the main characteristics of those who were gym members were the same as those who were not. “But gym members did more training than non-gym members,” said the lead author, Elizabeth Schroeder of the University of Illinois.
While it might seem clear that gym members exercise more and are healthier than non-gym members, Schroeder says this has not been directly shown before. However, the study is only designed to show a tie between gym membership and more exercise. It may be that active people like to join gyms. In the study, people who exercised as much as gym members were also in good health.
You can get the same benefits wherever you exercise. This study shows a gym membership can make you do more exercise, but other research shows that exercising outside has other help. Outdoor activity can make you feel happy about life, especially if you run through a forest.
Outdoor exercise is also more interesting than going to the gym. The first five minutes of outdoor exercise is especially helpful in making people feel good. But Schroeder says that a gym may also encourage greater exercise because it can be social and fun.
1. What did the new study find out?| A．British people are crazy about the gym. |
| B．Gym exercise is better than outdoor exercise. |
| C．Gym membership can make us healthier. |
| D．Gym is necessary for our daily life. |
| A．people between aged 30 and 64 | B．the same number of men and women |
| C．405 gym members | D．people with the same characteristics |
| A．active people; more gym exercise | B．more exercise; health |
| C．gym membership; more exercise | D．happiness; more exercise |
| A．healthier | B．happier | C．more social | D．more helpful |
| A．Women should do more gym exercise. |
| B．We should be careful with outdoor training. |
| C．Outdoor exercise is better than gym exercise. |
| D．We may make great exercise if we go to the gym. |
5 . Student newspapers across the US are facing a dark reality. As they are free to read, they are making less money than ever, meaning that such newspapers are finding it hard to survive.
Most college papers have reduced their print editions (版本). Last year, the Daily Tar Heel printed a paper four days a week. This year, it prints a paper every three days. And while it used to produce around 22,000 newspapers each time, it only makes around 10,000 now, said Erica Perel, general manager.
Increasingly, student journalists have turned their focus to digital versions of their newspapers, and the new ways that social media allows them to tell stories. They’ve adapted their skills to mirror what’s going on in the professional journalism world.
“I think we’re adapting very well...in moving away from that print edition. But it’s challenging.” said Jonathan Carter, a student at North Carolina State University. So what should student newspapers do? LoMonte said the best solution would be for universities to financially (财经的) support student journalism. University leaders like to talk about producing responsible students, he said, and journalism is a part of that.
In the meantime, campus newspapers are figuring out their financial models as they go along. Bruce dePyssler, adviser to North Carolina Central University’s Campus Echo Newspaper, said his students post one story a day online. The best stories are put together for a once-a-semester print edition.
And even if student journalists don’t go into media jobs, Perel said, “They’ve still had a great education.” “The number one thing that we teach is critical thinking (批判思考) and how to be a lifelong learner,” she said, “The ones who are living through this transition (过渡) are the ones that are going to be a lot stronger for it in the end.”
1. What do most college newspapers do to face the dark reality?| A．Improve printing quality. | B．Reduce print editions. |
| C．Lower advertising fees. | D．Increase paper price. |
| A．Continue with paper versions. | B．Ask colleges for money. |
| C．Publish more digital editions. | D．Create their own financial models. |
| A．In storytelling. | B．In problem-solving. |
| C．In logical thinking. | D．In lifelong learning. |
| A．Jonathan Carter. | B．LoMonte. | C．Bruce dePyssler. | D．Perel. |
| A．The proud history of the Daily Tar Heel. | B．Student newspapers are adapting well. |
| C．School newspapers are under pressure. | D．How to refresh traditional newspapers. |
6 . Why go to Madrid?
There may be a slight chill (寒冷) in the air, with temperatures staying around 15℃ in March, but Spain’s handsome capital is slowly starting to warm up. Even more attractive are the cultural events. A new exhibition on the living and working spaces of Spain’s greatest artist, Picasso, has just opened in the studio at the Fundacion Mapfre at Paseo de Recoletos 23. It runs until 11 May with rarely seen pieces borrowed from his family.
Later this summer, the 400th anniversary (周年) of the death of the Renaissance (文艺复兴) painter El Greco will be marked with an exciting exhibition at the Museo del Prado at Paseo del Prado from 24 June to 5 October.
How to go?
The widest range of flights is offered by Easy Jet — from Bristol, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Liverpool and Luton. British Airways and its sister airline Iberia combine forces from Heathrow and London City. Ryanair flies from Manchester and Stansted; Air Europa flies from Gatwick.
Barajas airport is 13 km north-east of the city centre and is served by frequent trains on Metro line 8, but the shortest underground journey is a bit complex (复杂) with at least one change at Nuevos Ministerios station and takes about 30 minutes.The fare (车票) to any station in the city centre is €4.50. The airport express bus runs every 15 to 35 minutes around the clock; €5 one way. It takes 40 minutes to reach the city centre. A taxi takes half the time. A flat rate of €30 covers most of central Madrid.
1. When will the exhibition about Picasso close?| A．On 23 March. | B．On 11 May. | C．On 24 June. | D．On 5 October. |
| A．Picasso’s works of art. | B．Picasso’s living and working spaces. |
| C．El Greco’s great paintings. | D．The 400th anniversary of the Renaissance. |
| A．Easy Jet. | B．Ryanair. | C．Air Europa. | D．British Airways. |
| A．Take a taxi. | B．Take a city bus. |
| C．Take Metro line 8. | D．Take the airport express bus. |
| A．Take a taxi. | B．Take a city bus. |
| C．Take Metro line 8. | D．Take the airport express bus. |
7 . Facebook friends cannot replace the real thing, say psychologists.
People are happier and laugh 50% more when they talk face to face with friends or via webcam (web camera) than when they use social networking sites, a study has found.
Dr. Roberts, a famous lecturer at the University of Chester, said such websites don’t appear to help make true friendship. Based on two questionnaires, he found there was no link between Facebook use and people with larger groups of friends.
Dr. Roberts, whose work will be presented at the British Psychological Society conference in Harrogate, said, “The bottom line conclusion is that our relationships are not dependent on the quantity of communication. They depend on quality, and even Skype is better at increasing the quality of our communication than time on Facebook.” Even talking on the phone or texting does not make people feel as good as sharing a smile, the research says. The studies suggest quality, not quantity, of communication is the most important for keeping friends for life.
People find the most satisfying relationships come from a small number of close friends, with an outer “ring” of 10 significant others. With these people, it doesn’t matter what type of social media you use for communication. But people who want to “contact the world at large” using Facebook can be disappointed because they spread themselves too thinly, say researchers.
In a third study, Dr. Roberts asked people to communicate with friends face to face or via Skype and keep a 14-day diary. This was compared with communicating via phone, text messages or social networking sites. People communicating face to face on Skype were 50% more likely to laugh, and they rated themselves as significantly happier.
1. What does the psychological study find out?| A．Facebook can bring more happiness. | B．Facebook makes friendship stronger. |
| C．Facebook does not help make true friendship. | D．Facebook can bring larger groups of friends. |
| A．two questionnaires. | B．facetoface talking. |
| C．instant messages. | D．field research. |
| A．talking face to face. | B．talking on the phone. |
| C．texting messages. | D．updating social accounts. |
| A．Most people contact each other online. | B．Keeping a friend for life is not easy. |
| C．The quality of communication is important. | D．Skype is better at understanding us than Facebook. |
| A．Positive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Unclear. | D．Unsupportive. |
8 . In a world of quizzes that test students’ book smarts, one competition (比赛) focuses on something different — consumer (消费者) skills.
LifeSmarts is a US consumer literacy (素养) competition hosted by the National Consumers League. High school students take online tests throughout the school year, and the students with the highest scores represent their state at the championship.
Students are quizzed on topics that include personal finance, technology, the environment, health and safety, and other practical things.
Team captain Mike Sawicki has gone to nationals (全国比赛) every year throughout his high school career. “It’s awesome because it’s so broad of a competition, it enables us to learn so much and allows us to stand on things we learned previously and build on it,” Sawicki said. “My understanding on what it takes to be a smart consumer has grown. I’m able to apply LifeSmarts I learned earlier with things like payyourselffirst concepts (概念) — saving some money first before spending it when you get your paycheck (工资). I now focus on unitpricing comparison shopping, which really helped me out saving a sum of money here and there.”
Sawicki will attend the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign this fall and is considering a career in investment banking (投资银行). He said his success in LifeSmarts helped him to do well in other school activities, like Future Business Leaders of America.
“In terms of practical knowledge from LifeSmarts, I’ve been able to use it for my own personal investment strategy, for my college interviews,” Sawicki said.
1. What do we know about LifeSmarts?| A．It’s a global competition. | B．It’s a paperpencil test. |
| C．It’s open to university students. | D．It covers many practical topics. |
| A．How much knowledge you know. | B．How well you behave. |
| C．How smart you use money. | D．How less you spend money. |
| A．the organizer of LifeSmarts | B．an excellent football captain |
| C．a frequent competitor of LifeSmarts | D．a successful market investor |
| A．Offer to pay the bills what dating with friends. |
| B．Save money first when getting income. |
| C．Compare unitpricing when shopping. |
| D．Buy a gift to yourself when getting paycheck. |
| A．He has made some close friends. |
| B．He has learned to better manage his money. |
| C．He has found a job in investment banking. |
| D．He has learned how to organize school activities. |
9 . 4 Popular Places to Go This Winter
Harbin, China
China Harbin’s winter is for the brave ones — the average temperature is 1.8°F — but those who brave the cold will be rewarded with experiencing one of the world’s largest winter festivals. 2019 marks the 35th Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture (雕塑) Festival (January－March), when great frozen structures rise and are lit up, transforming the city into a winter wonderland.
Lyon, France
Paris may be called The City of Light, but every December, light takes center stage in Lyon, France’s thirdlargest city. That’s when the annual Festival of Lights (around December 8) takes over, with light installations ( 装 置 ) that transform the city’s street scenes into modern works of art. The city is also home to two Christmas markets (one in La CroixRousse; the other at the Place Carnot; through December 25).
Lima, Peru
Peru’s capital Lima is home to the world’s highest number of cooking schools per person. Aside from its wellknown dining, the city also has great cocktail bars where you can taste the Pisco Sour(皮斯科鸡尾酒). Combine that with the oceanfront setting and temperatures in the 80°F, and you’ll understand why Lima should no longer be ignored this winter.
Vermont, US
Winter in Vermont means skiing and snowboarding. Many resorts ( 度假胜地) have greatly upgraded their snowmaking abilities as part of a $15 million statewide program that replaced many outdated snow guns with new, lowenergy models. These new machines will also improve the quality of snow surfaces and lengthen the season, meaning this will be one of the best winters for skiing and riding in Vermont in recent memory.
1. What similarities do the first two places have?| A．They are decorated with lights. | B．They offer snow sculptures. |
| C．They have threeday festivals. | D．They are extremely cold. |
| A．Light up the stage. | B．Become important and noticeable. |
| C．Be in the central part of the stage. | D．Take away the market. |
| A．China. | B．France | C．Peru | D．the United States. |
| A．Harbin. | B．Lyon. | C．Lima. | D．Vermont. |
| A．Skiing and snowboarding. | B．Updated equipment. |
| C．Cooking schools. | D．A colder winter. |
10 . City trees grow faster and die younger than trees in rural forests, a new study finds.
Studies had shown forests take in greenhouse gas. But there hadn’t been much data on whether city trees grow, die and take in CO2 at the same rate as forest trees do. So Lucy Hytyra and her workmates at Boston University in Massachusetts decided to find out.
To figure out how quickly trees were growing, the researchers tracked their diameters (直径) between 2005 and 2014. The team focused on red oaks and red maples growing on Boston streets. These trees grew four times faster than the same species did in a nearby forests. Faster-growing trees take in more CO2. Over the nine years, the researchers tracked these trees, and they found city ones took in four times as much CO2 from the air as the forest trees did. The city trees also, however, were twice as likely to die. So over the lifetime of each type of tree, forest trees actually take in more CO2.
“City trees grow faster mainly because they have less competition for light from their neighbors,” Hutyra says. In a forests, trees tend to grow close together, shading their neighbors. Street trees also benefit from higher levels of nitrogen (氮) in rainwater. Nitrogen is an element that helps plants grow. Still, she says that her team’s findings may not apply to arid cities. “In locations short of water like Phoenix or Los Angeles, city trees might respond differently because it’s very hot in the city and they have so little water.” At such sites, she says, “Trees might grow slower.”
So why were Boston’s streets trees twice as likely as their country cousins to die young? City roads can leave big-tree roots less room to grow. Plus, people often decide to cut down trees that are sick, or in the way of some desired building or view.
1. What can we learn from the research by Lucy’s team?| A．City trees live twice longer than forest trees. |
| B．Over their lifetime, forest trees actually take in more CO2. |
| C．Over the nine years, faster-growing trees breathe in less CO2. |
| D．On Boston streets red oaks grow much faster and taller than red maples. |
| A．they live in hot weather | B．they take in more water |
| C．they tend to grow close together | D．they benefit from more light and nitrogen |
| A．Dry. | B．Busy. | C．Crowded. | D．Large. |
| A．The result of people’s behavior. |
| B．The relationship between people and trees. |
| C．The fact that the roots of city trees have more room. |
| D．The reasons why the street trees in Boston died young. |
| A．A travel journal. | B．A story book. | C．A science magazine. | D．A medical report |
